Are some teens wired to binge drink?

A gene variation may help explain why some teenagers are more likely than others to binge drink.

“We now understand the chain of action: how our genes shape this function in our brains and how that, in turn, leads to human behavior,” says lead author Gunter Schumann from the Department of Social, Genetic and Developmental Psychiatry at King’s College London.

“We found that the RASGRF-2 gene plays a crucial role in controlling how alcohol stimulates the brain to release dopamine, and hence trigger the feeling of reward. So, if people have a genetic variation of the RASGRF-2 gene, alcohol gives them a stronger sense of reward, making them more likely to be heavy drinkers.”